Box of Bones

Every year about this time, we are thrown another caveat on the story of Jesus. Last year The Da Vinci Code claimed that Jesus lived on through a sacred bloodline rather than as risen Lord. This year, a new non—fiction book called The Jesus Family Tomb ranked #10 on last week’s New York Times’ nonfiction list. The book claims that the bones of Jesus Christ have been found, encased in a stone ossuary.

Documentary-maker Simcha Jacobivici says he discovered the tomb beneath an apartment complex in Jerusalem in 1980. In first-century Israel, bodies were allowed to decompose for a year inside the tomb and then the bones were placed inside stone boxes called ossuaries. Ten such boxes were found inside this tomb, and six of them bore inscriptions in various languages – Latin, Aramaic and Greek. One of them allegedly bears the inscription “Jesus, son of Joseph.” They say the other boxes bear the names of his mother Mary, his brothers Matthew and Joseph, his wife Mary Magdalene, and his son Judah. Sound familiar yet?

It would not bother me if Jesus were married and had a child, although frankly I see nothing in Scripture or history that supports it. But finding the bones of Jesus would call into question the resurrection, upon which hinges our entire faith. So we must ask: Are these the bones of Jesus?

Some scholars are already saying no. Israeli archaeologist Amos Klonger, who was among the first to examine the newly discovered tomb, says the names on the ossuaries are so common that they prove nothing. In fact, the name Jesus survives on 99 tombs and 22 ossuaries in that region. Other scholars disagree with the actual translations of the names. The ossuaries were discovered in 1980, but stored in a warehouse until 1996, which raises further questions.

There are a few inconsistencies that leap out at this arm-chair scholar. Biblically, Jesus never had a brother named Matthew. His brothers are named as James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. Jacobivici adds to the family tree of Christ in order to support his own theory, since DNA evidence linked the bodies as siblings. Since we have a historical record of the names of the brothers, the bones of Matthew actually contradict the theory that the Jesus in the box is the one we call Jesus Christ. Since we have no historical record of Jesus having a son named Judah (or anything else), the DNA evidence tying those two bodies is irrelevant in establishing the identity of the Jesus in the ossuary.

The early disciples were persecuted mightily for their claim that Jesus was not really dead. They were exiled, beaten, flogged, beheaded, and crucified. Given the chance to go away quietly, they typically responded by saying, “We cannot help telling everyone what we have seen and heard.” His family – including his mother Mary and his brother James – were among those who claimed he had risen. If the family was lying, why would they keep his bones conspicuously in the family vault labeled “Jesus, Son of Joseph?”

I am not a scientist or a historian, but I am confident that when all the evidence is tallied and all the testing complete – not by profiteers but by actual scientists – the results will be so ordinary and so non-compelling they will hardly make the news.

In the meantime, we Christians ought to focus on showing a risen Christ to the world. Some have said that if Jesus were alive today, he would be in Iraq and carrying an M-16. But Jesus is alive! He was, and still is, the Prince of Peace. According to Scripture, the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. (Romans 14:17.) Just as Jesus wept with Mary of Bethany at the tomb of her brother Lazarus, Jesus weeps today with mothers who have lost children in the war on Iraq – and it matters not whether those mothers are American or Iraqi.

-- Jeannie Babb Taylor
April, 2007